Article: NASA shuttle heat shield to be made in Middletown

MIDDLETOWN -- Thanks to a $12 million NASA contract, a local facility will be manufacturing spacecraft heat shields for the U.S. government's newest intergalactic project.

Aeronca Inc., located at 2320 Wedekind Drive in Middletown, will use its honeycomb technology to make the titanium shields for NASA's Orion shuttle -- an Apollo-style rocket meant to replace the current shuttle design used today, said Keith Wyman, the company's director of sales and marketing.

To make the shields, the company will sandwich the brazed honeycomb alloy between two 16-foot titanium plates and then melt them together. The honeycomb material is already made in Middletown, but the titanium will be imported from ...

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